


A Chance Meeting

by DoingTheWindyThing



Category: Homestuck, MS Paint Adventures
Genre: M/M, im not good at tags, poc john egbert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-07
Updated: 2014-12-07
Packaged: 2018-02-28 05:34:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2720642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoingTheWindyThing/pseuds/DoingTheWindyThing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which John finds a random phone number in a book at the library and decides to call it, completely oblivious to the fact that the owner of the number is standing right next to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. What Made Me Call a Random Number?

John Egbert loved books. In fact, he loved them almost as much as he loved Nic Cage movies. He loved the dusty smell of the paper, the words flowing in little black streams across the page forming pictures, and the way the book could instantly transport him anywhere he desired. When he was reading a book, John could expect anything to happen. Anything, that is, but a slip folded paper falling out of in between the pages.

He bent down to pick it up, unfolding the crumpled paper to see what was written within, perhaps a misplaced shopping list, or a reminder note. What he saw instead was a series of numbers with the words call me after them.

John looked around the library, trying to find who might have put paper in the book. His eyes swept the rows of shelves, but he saw nothing but books after books.

 _"Maybe I should just call the number.."_ John thought, looking at the slip of paper again. He mentally slapped himself.  _"That's a terrible idea, who knows who it belongs to. What are you even thinking._ _"_

As he reached to put the number back into the book, something stopped him. The number seemed to beckon him.

" _What am I doing."_ John thought as he reached for his phone. _"This is the worst idea I have ever had in my life. And that's counting the time I started a cake war with Dad."_

As soon as he pressed the call button, a large crash sounded from behind him, followed by a loud ringing noise and a stream of profanities. John whipped around, but the only thing that greeted him was a large bookshelf.

_"The noise must have come from the aisle behind me."_

Shoving the book back in its place, John ran out of the aisle. As he turned the corner to the aisle the crash came from, he stopped. Lying on the ground was boy around John's age, screaming at his phone. Books lay scattered around him, some half opened.

"Do you need any help?" John hesitantly asked.

The boy froze, looked at John, and turned bright red. As he dismissed the call and started hurriedly picking the books up. John got to his knees and started helping him pick up the fallen books.

"What happened here?" John asked as he gave the boy a pile of books.

"Some shit bagel decided to call me and past me was too much of an idiot to turn the phone on vibrate before he entered the library," he mumbled. "The call startled me and I dropped all my books."

"Oh, I see," John laughed. "I think that might have been me... Did you leave you're number in a random book lately? My name's John by the way."

The boy looked horrified. "Oh my gog, that was such a long time ago. By the time I realized it was a bad idea, I had forgotten the name of the book I left it in. My name is Karkat."

When Karkat stood up, John burst out laughing.

"It's not funny!" Karkat cried out, turning a deeper shade of red. "I didn't have many friends at that point in my life."

"I'm sorry, its just... I don't even know. I guess that I'll see you around?"

"What?! Oh, yeah. See you around."

As John walked away, he though Karkat sounded a bit crestfallen when he said that, but he couldn't tell why.

* * *

John lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling. For some reason, he couldn't forget the boy he had met in the library that day.

 _"Stupid,"_   he though, turning on his side.  _"You didn't even give him your phone number."_

Then an idea lit up in his head like a light bulb. He reached for his phone and looked at the call history. When he found the number he was looking for, his face lit up, and he hit the call button.

"Hi Karkat! This is John, from the library? I was wondering if you wanted to meet up somewhere tomorrow. Meet me at the ice cream shop outside the library!"

 


	2. What Made Me Leave My Number in a Random Book?

It had been a fairly good day for Karkat, until the point where his phone rang.

"AHHHHH!" he yelled, dropping all the books that he had carefully gathered. "What incompetent ass fairy is calling me! If it's that sorry sack of shit Sollux I swear - "

"Do you need any help?"

Karkat froze, and looked at who stood in front of him. His heart fluttered, and at that moment he could have sworn that he had found the perfect human being. The boy was a couple inches taller than Karkat, and his skin was a deep brown color. His ebony hair looked coarse and wavy, and made Karkat want to rub his hand through it. Karkat noticed that the boy was still staring at him expectantly, and flushed a deep red. He dismissed the call and started hurriedly picking the books up. The boy dropped to his knees and started helping him.

"What happened here?" The stranger asked as he handed Karkat a pile of books.

"Some shit bagel decided to call me and past me was too much of an idiot to turn the phone on vibrate before he entered the library," he mumbled. "The call startled me and I dropped all my books."

"Oh, I see," The boy laughed. "I think that might have been me... Did you leave you're number in a random book lately? My name's John by the way."

Karkat looked up, horrified. He had just called John a shit bagel. Why was he so good at screwing things up?

"Oh my gog, that was such a long time ago. By the time I realized it was a bad idea, I had forgotten the name of the book I left it in. My name is Karkat."

As he stood up, John burst out laughing.

"It's not funny!" Karkat cried out, turning a deeper shade of red. "I didn't have many friends at that point in my life."

"I'm sorry, its just... I don't even know. I guess that I'll see you around?"

"What?!" Karkat said with a start. "Oh, yeah. See you around."

As John walked away, Karkat felt his heart drop.

* * *

Karkat lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling. He couldn't forget John from the library, and his stomach fluttered just thinking of him.

 _"Idiot,"_   he though, turning on his side.  _"You didn't even ask for his phone number."_

Just as he was about to fall asleep, his phone started ringing.

 _"What douche is calling me at this time of the night!"_ Karkat mentally yelled as he reached for the phone.  _"Don't they understand the concept of sleep time?"_

However, when he saw the number on the screen his anger washed away.

"Of course I would, you dork. I'll see you there."

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the tumblr johnkat secret Santa! I hope you enjoyed it! :) All kudos and comments are appreciated.


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